McQueary files defamation suit against Penn State

Penn State University assistant football coach Mike McQueary arrives at the Centre County Courthouse to testify in the child sexual abuse trial of former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky in Bellefonte, Pa., Tuesday, June 12, 2012. Sandusky is charged with 52 counts of child sexual abuse involving 10 boys over a period of 15 years.)

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. A former Penn State graduate assistant who testified at the trial of former football assistant coach Jerry Sandusky has filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the university seeking millions of dollars in damages.

The suit filed Tuesday by Mike McQueary alleges defamation and misrepresentation and says the university's treatment of him has caused "much distress, anxiety and embarrassment."

McQueary reported seeing Sandusky and a boy in a locker room shower in 2001 but police weren't notified. A Penn State-commissioned report concluded officials concealed the attack due to fears of bad publicity.

McQueary was put on administrative leave in November; his contract expired in June. The suit says his future coaching earnings would have totaled at least $4 million over 25 years.

The suit also asks for: The bonus from the bowl game he would have received if not on paid leave; $4,250 for the value of his work vehicle; reimbursement of legal fees; back pay and benefits thru trial; the tax and penalty he will have to pay for early withdrawal from retirement account; and "...an order for reinstatement, or in lieu thereof front pay, plus general damages as compensation for Plaintiff's distress, anxiety and embarrassment."

McQueary's lawsuit points the finger directly at former University President Graham Spanier, who allegedly suggested McQueary was "lying in his reports and testimonies."

Additionally, McQueary believes in meetings with former Athletic Director Tim Curley and former Senior Vice President Gary Schultz, they "intended that their misrepresentation induce the Plaintiff not to report the matter to any other law enforcement authority....the Plaintiff has been labeled and branded as being part of a cover-up, which has caused irreparable harm to his ability to earn a living, especially in his chosen profession of coaching football."